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Butler misses Timberwolves´ final preseason game as Garnett fumes

October 12 2018 10:23 PM

Jimmy Butler will not be available for the Minnesota Timberwolves' final preseason game and former star Kevin Garnett is not happy with how his situation has been handled.

NBA All-Star Butler reportedly yelled at his team-mates and Timberwolves officials during practice, having trained against the starting team, with the player explaining his frustrations to the media afterwards.

Coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters Butler was not in condition to travel to face the Milwaukee Bucks in preseason, although he added on the looming start of the regular season: "The situation remains fluid."

Garnett, who was named MVP in the first of his two spells with the Timberwolves, has no issue with Butler arguing with team members but does not believe it should have reached the public domain.

"What's really the s***-storm is that can't nobody keep s*** in practice? What goes on in practice should always stay in practice," Garnett told The Athletic.

"And what goes on between two conglomerates as businesses should always stay [private]. Everything is so damn public now.

"You don't think that I went crazy sometimes? Man, I was a damn Tasmanian devil. I would say s*** at [Kevin] McHale. I would say s*** at Flip [Saunders]. But it was all to motivate all of us."

He added: "I'm just hoping they can get through this rough patch and everybody can get on the same patch and figure it out."

Thibodeau was given the opportunity to have his say ahead of the team travelling and, like Garnett, claimed the incident was commonplace.

"Some things that have been reported are correct, some are not," he said. "It's not uncommon, when players scrimmage, that there'll be some talk. It was competitive."